KENNARD SAYS GIVEBACK AND FEES COULD SPEED DTV TRANSITION
Broadcasters on TV Ch. 52-69 should have to give back their analog channels Dec. 31, 2006, regardless of whether 85% of U.S. households have access to DTV, outgoing FCC Chmn. William Kennard said in letter to Congress, and broadcasters on other channels should begin paying escalating spectrum fee to continue analog broadcasts. Changes were among several that Kennard proposed to Congress as way to speed DTV transition.
Requiring that analog broadcasting move off higher channels also would “further the competitive bidding objectives” of Budget Act and make launch of 3rd-generation (3G) wireless technologies easier, Kennard said in letters to congressional leaders. He said firm deadline for ending analog broadcasting on those channels was particularly important because they formed “substantial, contiguous block” of spectrum for 3G. Kennard didn’t suggest specific spectrum fee for other channels, but said escalating figure would create incentive for speeding DTV transition, and revenue could be used to help fund DTV transition by public broadcasters.
Speaking at ALTV conference, Andrew Levin, chief minority staffer of House Commerce Committee, warned broadcasters that “your industry certainly is at risk for being blamed” if 2006 deadline for giving up analog channels isn’t met. Commenting on Kennard’s recommendations, Levin said if deadline wasn’t met, “you're going to see more and more of these kinds of proposals” even though failure to meet deadline wouldn’t be broadcasters’ fault. Al Mottur, chief Democratic aide to Senate Commerce Committee, said broadcasters would have problem with past promises made -- on digital and other issues -- that critics in Congress would say hadn’t been fulfilled.
Congress also should speed DTV transition by 2 other actions, Kennard said in letter: (1) It should require that all new TV sets be able to decode DTV signals, beginning with small percentage of large sets, and moving gradually to larger percentage of small sets. FCC should be required to set specific pace of adoption, based on cost, status of DTV technology, public benefit of speeding transition. (2) It should step in if agreement isn’t reached on DTV copy protection. -- Michael Feazel
DTV Notes…
FCC decision endorsing VSB modulation for DTV received good response from industry, but reaction to rulemaking on DTV reception capability (CD Jan 22 p1) was mixed. Advanced TV Systems Committee Chmn. Robert Graves said FCC decisions would enhance prospects that other countries would adopt U.S. standard, and “the outlook for DTV services in the U.S. is bright.” He said committee expected to issue request for proposals soon for enhancements to current DTV standard. CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said FCC actions “will go a long way toward speeding the transition.” However, he expressed “concern” about all-channel receiver rulemaking, calling it “anticonsumer” and likely to slow transition.
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Sale of DTV displays and integrated sets was higher in 2000 than expected, CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said at ALTV conference in Las Vegas Mon. He said total of 648,429 DTV-capable displays and integrated receivers, valued at $1.4 billion, were sold to dealers during year, 4 times figure for 1999. Figures on how many actually went to consumers weren’t available. Shapiro also said 36,794 set-top DTV boxes were sold during year. Based on 2000 figures, Shapiro predicted DTV sales in first 4 years (through 2001) would top that of PCs, VCRs, CD players, color TVs.
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Latest count of DTV stations on air is 177, according to NAB. Latest are 3 Tribune-owned WB affiliates, WPIX-DT N.Y., WGN-DT Chicago, KDAF-DT Dallas-Ft. Worth.